This invention relates to security in access controlled areas in venues such as airports and government offices; and, more particularly, to a detection system in combination with a deterrent system which completely restricts travel in one (the wrong) direction while allowing free access in the opposite (secure side to public side) direction.
In many venues, particularly airports and the like, it is not only desirable, but mandatory that access into secure areas (e.g., an airport concourse) be rigidly controlled so that only people who have passed through some type of screening procedure are allowed into the secure area. Using the airport example, people who have passed the screening procedure are allowed to enter the secure area through one passage (entry lane); while, those leaving the secure area are directed out of the area through a separate passage (exit lane). To prevent unscreened individuals from entering the secure area through the exit passage, guards are typically stationed at, or in, the passage to stop their movement. In addition, security systems have been installed to monitor the exit lane. These systems employ a variety of detection schemes and apparatus to detect a person going through the passage the wrong way, as early as possible in their movement into the passage, to timely alert security personnel as to the detected movement, and to block the passage so the intruder cannot pass through it into the secure area.
Some of these systems have been found to be more effective than others, but none have proved flawless. Again using the airport example, if someone does succeed in entering the concourse the wrong way, the concourse must be shut down, everyone evacuated; and, once the intruder is found, everyone rescreened before they can re-enter the concourse. This is not only time consuming and expensive, but results in a great deal of aggravation and hard feelings on the part of those simply trying to catch an airplane.
In addition, placing one or more guards in the exit lane is costly. Guards are typically stationed in the passage for certain period of time and are periodically relieved for rest or other duties. The result is in having to hire, train, and pay a number of people just to guard the exit.
The Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) has conducted a number of studies related to this problem. To date, none of the studies have demonstrated a truly satisfactory solution to the problem of exit lane breach control (ELBC). The studies have shown, for example, that doors positioned in the exit and which open and close to provide or block access through the lane are too slow to close in time to prevent an intruder from slipping through the door before it closes, or from catching the door before it closes and holding it open long enough to pass through it. Gates have been found to have too many safety issues associated with them to be operable in a way that they can be rapidly closed without potentially harming people in the exit passage. Turnstiles do not provide sufficient throughput, as well as having too large a footprint to comply with fire/safety codes for the exit lane volume they are required to handle.
Current detection systems employ closed circuit television (CCTV), intelligent CCTV (ICCTV), video analytics (VA), intelligent video motion analysis (IVMA), and stereo-optic CCTV (SoCCTV) among others. All of these various systems require a camera or sensor to see a monitored area. Further, to be effective, the entire monitored area must have no blocked areas or blind spots. Another drawback is the amount of processing and data storage capability required for the system and which imposes a substantial cost on system implementation.
Further, while these detection systems do detect intruders or wrong-way travelers, effectively implementing them is difficult to do, as there are many different intrusion scenarios which can cause the system to fail. Another problem with them is that even though they are capable of detecting the violation, they need to be integrated with a deterrent or capture system that can operate rapidly enough to prevent the intruder from entering the access controlled space.